A Gypsy Love Story
by Harthos
Summary: A Story about Jacob Galati and his Wife Irena from the episode One Minute to Midnight. Jacob will do anything to get his new student, Irena to marry him, even if it takes him 65 years!


**A Gypsy Love Story**

Jacob Galati awoke this day with a glitter in his eye and a song in his heart. This was the day he would ask the love of his life, Irena, to marry him… again. He was oh-so nervous, part of him kept reminding him of all the other times he had tried to propose marriage to her, particularly the last time.

It was six years ago, he had worked up a surefire plan to win her over at the spring festival. It had been the perfect night for it, too; not too cold, nor too windy, the stars were glistening in the sky, and after dancing with her, he would give to the beautiful peace of jewelry he had… well, obtained several days prior from an unknowing man in town. He knew stealing it was wrong, and looking back, figured that perhaps that had been why his plan had not worked in his favor that night. She had told him that it was too much, the charm, and his proposal, and that she could accept neither. Moreover, she had shied away from him and for two years, would not so much as speak to him, and it took another three, before they could be considered friends.

They had been like this for a many years, sometimes friends, sometimes not, and sometimes, something a little more. But every time he had tried to get her to marry him, it had turned out the same, she would deny him, and then he would have to start over again. Part of him kept reminding him of all these times, while part of him, the best part, his favorite part, urged him on, saying: _This is it! THIS is the time! _

He knew she wasn't Christian, but she had a truly good and sincere heart, and Everything else inside him told him it was Right, Right RIGHT!!

He excitedly walked over to Irena's tent.

The beautiful, cute, Immortal gypsy lady with the long, curly dark hair, and cute, full lips, named Irena, prepared herself within her small tent, her heart beating with nervous excitement. She would be meeting with another Immortal, Jacob Galati. She had known him since well before becoming an Immortal. In fact, he had been her first teacher; had taught her what it was to be an Immortal, and ever since, had been trying to win her heart.

Unfortunately, she had never felt the same for him; never seen him as more than a very dear and close friend. Never, that is, until today. Something had changed, something deep inside her that she could not explain; she had simply awoken this morning, knowing that all the feelings that Jacob had had for her, feelings which she had never been able to experience, were suddenly beginning to manifest themselves in a major way. As well, all the fears of becoming romantically engaged with another Immortal no longer mattered, all that mattered now, was that she knew, as strongly as Jacob had known, that the two of them belonged together from now until the end of time, or perhaps the end of the Game...

"Irena?" He inquired.

The beautiful, cute, gypsy lady with the long, curly black hair, and cute, pouty lips,

"Jacob!" She said happily, as she took his hand.

He led her gently into the woods, where they both sat down beside a small brook. Jacob had brought his lute, which he set now on his knee. Irena's heart raced as she watched him sit there beside her. The situation was so very romantic: the stars, which had just begun to show themselves in the sky, were trickling over the surface of the gently flowing water, and the wind was brushing the night air ever so gently. After tampering with the strings of his instrument for a few moments, he smiled up at her.

"I wrote a new song just the other night! This one is inspired by Psalm 8 and 19, both written by King David."

"I would love to hear it, Jacob," She said, with a pleasant smile of her own.

He began playing, and the notes came out gently and pleasant, almost as fluent as the running brook. She looked into his pretty hazel eyes as he sang:

The sun is like a beacon

That the Lord placed high up in the sky.

It roams across the day time

like a journeyman on his quest.

It lights the strands of grasses,

which roll across the countryside,

like waves over the ocean, they play their gentle rhythm

And the gypsy caravan,

is a fleet of wandering seafarers,

That sails across that sea.

Blessed indeed is the gypsy,

to be privileged to roam throughout all creation,

seeking new and wondrous things.

The gypsies play throughout the day,

Their hearts a flowing song, like the wind in the air, or a bird in the sky.

At night they dance around the campfire,

Or perform for the delight of the people.

We humans are wisps of wind across the grass,

Yet we are placed in rank far above the other creatures of the earth

And the birds of the air.

And so, luckier still, is the Immortal man or woman,

Who is privileged to enjoy all the splendors of Creation,

And the pleasures of being a gypsy, for generations on and on.

And so I will sing of His glory, and praise Him all my days

As I roam over the land, with

A song in my heart, and the ones I love by my side.

As he finished his song, he looked up, and could tell she was impressed and delighted with it.

"What a very nice song, Jacob, I am sure that both David and God would be very much delighted, I know I am."

"Thank you," he said, having begun taking some of the berries she had brought along in a little sack

"Ah, it's a lovely night, isn't it, Irena?

"oh, it certainly is, Jacob," she replied with a contented smile, "The stars are more vibrant than I have seen them in a very long time."

"Yes, and it is pleasantly cool tonight. Summer will be over soon, I think," then he got up and offered his hand, "Come," he said.

They began to walk down the brook, holding hands. "Do you remember you when I first started teaching you, Irena?"

**Northeastern Europe, 1776**

This was the farthest north Jacob had been in a very long time. The group of gypsies he was with had come up here for the summer-why, he didn't know. Jacob would have to leave this group soon. The gypsies generally didn't mind a man just because he didn't age, that was why, as an Immortal, Jacob enjoyed living among the gypsies: as outcasts themselves, they were more than happy to accept Immortals that the world shunned and feared. And so, Jacob had been with them from a very early age, every since he had left his teacher. Even though he could get away with being Immortal, he never wanted to over do it, and he had been with this same group for nearly 80 years, and he knew that was way more than enough to overstay his welcome.

Today, they had started making their way back south. As they were going, another, smaller group met with them, their leader, an elder man named Paul Mishcum, asked if they could join. The Leader of Jacob's group, a middle-aged man with long dark hair and a mustache, said he wouldn't mind at all the few dozen members of the other group joining his.

A little later on in the day, the company stopped to rest and eat. Jacob, being the friendly soul he was, took the opportunity to go and greet the new comers and introduce himself.

It was then that he saw her, a beautiful young lady, apparently in her early twenties.

He was just a little nervous, as a man often will be, when he sees a woman that he finds so attractive.

As he approached her, an older woman walked up. "Hello, I am Gerina, who are you?"   
"Jacob Galati, musician, at your service," he said with a small bow.

"This is my Grandoughter"- "Irena," broke in, extending her small hand, which Jacob took and kissed. "Pleasure to meet you, Irena. Gerina we are glad that you all could

join us"

It turned out that Gerina was a very good and kind lady, if a little over protective of her. Irena had been the jewel of that group, and then became the gem of theirs.

**18 months later**

Irena was glad now to be in the company of a slightly larger group. She had been with that same group since she was born, 23 years before, but it had been very lonely ever since her parents had both died of plague when she was only 16. She rather liked this young man named Jacob, and the two of them were becoming very close, lately. She never could think of him as a lover, but yet she did see him as much closer than a mere friend. They would often go off together and have long, meaningful discussions.

They would be in Paris soon, she knew. She had never been to Paris, though she had heard it was a rich, beautiful city. The thought of the crowds was the thing that intimidated her, though. She had never been to a city so large, and before she met Jacob's company of gypsies, she had spent all of her life with just the same small group of gypsies that she was born with, occasionally going through small towns and villages. Now they would be among thousands of people. She was nervous, nervous as well as excited. They would be attending Carnival, the celebration that the Catholics before the season of Lent started. She had never experienced such an event, but Jacob had told her that it was a lot of fun.

Jacob had a lot of fun his year at Carnival, just as he had every time he went. He had Irena had danced, and the all the gypsies had been a very welcome part of the festivities. They had stayed for four days, much longer than Jacob had ever stayed at Carnival. They all packed up on the last morning and prepared to leave. But when it was time to go, no one could find Irena any where. Jacob looked and looked. Finally, he got word that a gypsy girl had been tried, and was to be stoned outside the city. When he and some of the other gypsies arrived, it was too late, they wanted to try to stop them, but guards had already been posted around the execution site, and would not let anyone near. Jacob shrunk back and clinched his eyes shut as he heard the horrible act begin.

He knew this day would probably come; she was after all, Immortal. This was, in fact, the very reason he had tried to become such good friends with her; well, and the fact that he had fallen deeply in love with this lass. He had heard that she was being killed as a heretic for practicing witchcraft; supposedly, she had been telling fortunes the night before. Jacob was furious. He knew that she was probably innocent; she probably merely refused to please some lascivious Parisian who turned her in.

God help him, he had almost hoped she would be killed so that she could become Immortal. But not like this, no Immortal should have to experience their first death this way. Jacob wanted nothing more than to run down everyone responsible and tear them limb from limb. But he knew that if he did, he would miss his chance to teach her as an Immortal. She would wander the world, scared and alone, until she met another Immortal, who would just as likely kill her as teach her.

"Let me bury her," he said to the other gypsies, with tears running down his face,

"I am going to go off on my own now, anyway. Please, allow me this one last request from you."

The others agreed. Normally, they would have taken the body, and given her a traditional gypsy funeral, but it was clear that they were not welcome her any more, and did not want to cause any more trouble. With a short goodbye, and a hug from a few of his closest friends, he took her body, and carried it far into the wilderness.

Jacob had taken his horse, as well as some supplies, and after finding a tree, he cleaned the dried blood off of her body and laid her on a blanket in the grass under a large oak tree he had found. After that, he got down on his knees and started praying. First, he asked for forgiveness for getting so angry earlier that morning then, he asked God to prepare him for the burdensome task of taking on an Immortal student, especially a beautiful female, no less, task which he most certainly was not prepared for.

Later that afternoon, he began collecting wood for a fire, mainly from the tree, and from the few other trees sparsely scattered in the surrounding area, finding whatever dry or partially dead branches and twigs he could find, for he knew that since most of the bones in her body had been broken, it would probably take her a lot longer to revive this first time. By the time the sky began to redden, he had a small campfire going. He waited nervously and anxiously until late in the night. Finally, as he fought to stay awake, her eyes suddenly snapped opened. As she gasped for air, her back arched and then she began coughing. Then, after a moment, she gained full consciousness, but still did not know where she was. She screamed, and gasped

"AAAAAAAH! No, not the Rocks!" She screamed, shaking her head violently "Pleeeeese, NO MORE!! Get Away from Me!!!" But then, she quickly realized where she actually was, and started to scream all over again, though a not quite as loud this time, and little less panicked. However, when she saw Jacob, he looked into her eyes, and could see the horror rising in them. She stood up, and backed up against the tree, trying to speak, but much too scared to get any words out. Jacob thought that if she had not just revived from the dead, she would surely have fainted by now. He felt so terrible for her, and he wondered if this was how most Immortals were when they first revived, unable to recall his own first time. He had never seen this in another Immortal, only heard about it from his teacher. He gently reached out a hand to her, which was quickly slapped back, as Irena turned her face into her own shoulder.

"Get way from me!!"

He then went and took her in his arms, clutching her to his chest, holding her

"It's ok, Irena, it's ok dear. Shhhhh."

As he began to stroke her hair,

"It's ok Irena, noones gonna hurt you. I'm here now, it's over, it's ok.

They both went down to there knees, where they stayed for a long time, as she began sobbing and weeping in his arms.

Finally, after she had settled down, he let her go, wrapped a blanket around her, and offered her some water, but the two of them didn't speak for a very long time. Finally, with tears in her eyes, she looked up at Jacob and asked, desperately:

"Why!? Why, Jacob? Is it true? Am I really a witch like they say? That is why they killed me, you know.. and now, -"No!"

Jacob broke in, firmly but gentle. "No.. Yes Irena, I heard what they said, but it is Not true. I have only known you for a short time, and I know Irena, I KNOW you are a good person. And as for this? This has nothing to do with you being a witch," he looked away, "or a demon… or whatever they might call us…."

"Us!? Jacob, wh' what do you mean?" she asked, puzzled and scared

He leaned in a little, placing his hand on hers.

"Listen Irena, do you trust me?"

"y' Yes…" she said, hesitantly

He slowly took out his dirk and then opened his palm, slicing a gash across it, which was completely healed in less than a minute's time. Irena was taken back, gasping with a hand held up to her open mouth.

"Jacob… You.. are You a witch then?"

"No, Irena. That is what I have been trying to tell you, I am like you. I am Immortal, we both are. You could do the same thing to your hand, and in just a few minutes, you would be fine. In fact, I don't think I need to do this to show you, but if I wanted, I could stab myself straight through the heart, die, and in only an hour or so, I would be right here talking with you again."

"But again I ask: Why, Jacob?"

"sigh, I do not know," he said, brushing the hair from her face. Look Irena, you have had a very long hard day, let us eat something, and in the morning I will tell you more about it, ok?"

"But where are the others?"

"Gone, moved on. It was time for me to leave them, anyway. And…. I am afraid they think you are dead. But no more questions tonight, ok? Now, I am going to go get some more wood for the fire. Here, just stir the embers until I get back. I won't go far, and I will come back soon, I promise." Just as Jacob left her, he realized that he had forgotten about the buzz. sigh Lord give me strength, he prayed.

"Irena still couldn't believe what had happened to her, but she tried to take Jacob's advice, and not think of it. But how couldn't she? Where a few days ago, she had never been such a solitary situation as Carnival, now she was in a more solitary situation than she had ever experienced. At least she still had Jacob's company, for which she was infinitely grateful. She hoped he would return soon, as she pulled the blanket more around her, shivering from the cold. She was starting to wonder when he would come back, when all of a sudden, she felt an immense pain in her chest, coupled with a horrible sensation in her mind, and a sinking feeling in her stomach that made her almost vomit. Then, the pain and discomfort were gone, and the sensation in her mind, while still there, had changed, and was now almost unnoticeable. At that moment, Jacob came walking up.

"Are you ok, Irena?"

"Yes, I think so, let us eat." They ate a small portion of some beef jerky, and a few nuts and berries that he had brought along. After that, she tried to allow herself to sleep. It was hard, but she did finally sleep, though her sleep was filled with nightmares. When she awoke, she tried to think that it had all been a dream, that she would wake up surrounded by her friends and her grandmother, but she saw only an empty landscape, scattered with trees. And then she saw Jacob, softly playing his lute.

"Good Morning, he said. You look like you didn't sleep very well. Here, have some water."

After taking a drink, she asked Jacob,

"But what about the others?"

"Well, like I said, they're gone now, we will have to get along on our own now, until we can find some more gypsy to travel with. But that's ok, we've got time," he said with a smile, "now that you're Immortal, you've got all the time in the world. You'll never age, you'll Always look exactly the same as you do right now. Which for someone as beautiful as you, is quite a blessing."

She blushed a little at this comment, and even allowed herself a small smile.

"Well, I should hope not exactly the same. I imagine I have never looked worse than I do now, having been beaten to death, and my eyes are probably all red from crying all night and not sleeping."

To which he replied with a smile:

"I think you look wonderful. Listen, before we um, get started, I have to take Gabrielle for a short ride, I don't want him to have to just be stuck here by this tree all day. Would you like to come? She agreed to come along, and they had a short but pleasant ride through the woodlands, where there was only one tree about ever 50 yards or so.

"Jacob?"

"Yes. Irena?"

"Thank," she whispered in his ear sincerely, "Thank you soo very much for everything."

"Oh, it was nothing," he replied with a smile, "trust me, I had to… but, you are very welcome, Irena."

On their way back, Jacob explained that she was going to give her her first learning exercise when they got back, but would not tell her what it was.

After he had tied up the horse again, he explained it to her.

"Ok, you remember that experience you had last night? That strange feeling you had when I came back from getting fire wood?"

"Yes, but.. how did you know about that?"

"Well, that is a special ability that all of us Immortals have. We can sense each other coming."

"You mean there are more Immortals?"

"Yes, several more. But that's for another leason. Now, like I was saying, there the first thing you need to do, is to start to get used to this sensation. Now this is going to be very a unpleasant thing to do, but it will make it much easier on both of us as teacher and student if you learn this first. Now, we are going to play a game of hide and seek, did you ever play that as a child?"

"Yes, I loved that game."

"Ok, good. I will go hide, while you count. Now remember, when we get close enough to each other, you will feel that strange sensation again that means I am near."

So, for the rest of the day, they played hide and seek, until, eventually, she got to where she could tolerate the sensation much better. After several more days, he decided it was time to teach her a much more difficult lesson, the Game. He REALLY didn't want to tell her about it, and wished that no Immortal would ever have to learn about it, or be a part of it, least of all this precious rose that he loved so much. That is why he had been putting it off for days, but he knew he had better not put it off too long, lest she become too comfortable without knowing about it.

"Irena," he said, taking her hand, "Let's take a walk." As they left, he walked past his horse. It's a difficult thing, Irena, but.. today, I am going to start teaching you to use one of these," he said, pulling out a sword. She stepped back.

"But why, Jacob? Won't you protect me? And besides, I thought you said we couldn't die?"

"Yes Irena, I promise I will Always protect you from people like the ones in Paris, but I am afraid there is one way that even we can die. Come"

And so, as they walked, he began the painful process of explaining the Game to her, and the next day, he gave her small sword he had, starting teaching her to sword fight.

**12 years later **

Irena and Jacob were both getting along well, now. Irena was starting accept her Immortality, and had even won her first Immortal battle. They were back with a new group of gypsies now, too. However, they had been with the same group for over ten years now, and they both knew it was time to move on. One Immortal, thought Jacob, may be alright, but not two. Jacob saw this time as the perfect opportunity declare his true feelings to Irena, and to ask her to marry him. He even had a ring for her. It was a simple ring, gold, with a thin, narrow lining of some dark blue jewel, and given to him by a good friend who died of old age many years ago. One day, he took her out away from the camp, and said:

"Irena, you know it is almost that time, don't you? It's almost time for us to leave the group, or we will be discovered."

She gave a small nod.

"Before that time comes, there is something I have been wanting to tell you for years," he then got down on one knee with the ring, "Irena, I love you with all my heart, I have since the day I we met, and my love has only grown stronger ever since. You are my everything. Irena, will you marry me? We'll run away together, just like before. We can explore the countryside, while we explore each other's hearts."

Irena was shocked, she could not believe what he had just asked.

"I, I.. no, I am sorry Jacob, I cannot," she said, almost in tears.

"Well, Well, then please, at least accept this ring. Wear it as a sign of our friendship."

"Oh Jacob," she said, taking the ring on her finger. "Jacob, when you leave, I would still like to come with you, though, if you will let me?"

"Will I let you? Will I let you?" he said, standing up with a chuckle, and kissing her forehead. "Ohoh! Irena, I will ALWAYS be your friend, and I will be with you for as long as you let me."

The next morning, they left on Jacob's horse, Gabrielle, to try and find a new life

**Present, (1844) **

"Yes, that seems like such a short time ago now, Jacob."

"Ah yes, but so much has happened since then. We've done a lot, and seen a lot. I have actually seen a lot of change in you, even since then."

"hmhm, yes," she said with a smile, "I was little more than a scared young lady when I met you. Jacob, listen, I- "Shhh," Jacob put a finger to her sweet little lips.

"Irena, I brought you out here to show you, to show you how I really feel, to show you who I am. I know I have before, but I ask again, Will you marry me? I bring no ring this time, I have no stolen peace of jewelry or swift lines. All I have is my heart, and I lay it here before you, knowing that you are the only one who could ever fill that special place in my life. You are my one truest friend, and the dearest lady there will ever be for me. Whenever we are together, that's when I really feel right."

"Oh Jacob, I accept! She said with a smile and a nod. "Yes, I Will!!"

Before Jacob could reply, she quickly added: "And Jacob, we don't need a ring, I still have the one you gave me when you first asked me all those years ago."

"Oh, Irena! Yes, Yes!! Thank you, God!!" He said, doing a short little jig. Then he took her in his arms and they kissed. This time, they kissed more passionately than they ever had before. Yes, they had had several kisses, small one, and long, passionate ones, they had made out, but not like this, not with so much feeling and, real gypsy passion! One week later, they were married, and Jacob had never been happier in his life.

And they lived happily…ever….after…? (Yeah, just like Romeo and Juliet )


End file.
